Syrup-cooker.



J. WERNER.

SYRUP COOKER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 12, 1912.

1,105,168. Patented July 28, 1914.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO-LITHO. WASHINGTON. D. C.

. To all whom it may concern:

JOHN WERNER, or uocrius'riin, NEW roux. 1

SYRUP-COOKER.

Be it known that I, JOHN WERNER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Syrup- Cookers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for cooking syrups or other thick fluids or solutions, such as are employed 1n connection with the manufacture of confectionery.

It is common to cook syrup in a receptacle provided with steam-coils which are immersed in the contents of the receptacle. In devices for this purpose, however, it has been found diflicult to maintain a suficiently active circulation in the body of the syrup to prevent portions of the syrup from becoming over-heated and damaged. The natural circulation, due to thermal action, is not sufiicient for this purpose in thick, viscous syrups or solutions, and accordingly ithas been proposed to employ actuators or'st rrers moving in the syrup to create a circulation therein.

The object of the present invention is to provide a syrup-cooker with agitating means of simple, compact and efficient form. For this purpose I have found that the syrup may be very effectively agitated and stirred by means of a series of small, elongated, ro-

tary stirrers provided with longitudinal paddles and arranged in a parallel series be tween the lowermost heating-coils and the bottom of the syrup-receptacle. These stirrers are preferably rotated at high speed and all in the same direction, and as a result I have found that they produce both a general circulation and local eddies within the body of the syrup, by which it is kept thoroughly in motion and effectively prevented from burning or overheating.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a plan-view of a syrup-cooker embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front-v elevation of the same, partially in section,

on the line 22 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a partial section on the line 33 in Fig. 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is provided with a syrup-receptacle 5, in

which are inclosed upper and lower coils 6 and 7 for heating and cooling the syrup, these coils being spaced both from the side walls and from the bottom of the receptacle, so as to be completely surrounded by the Specification of Letters Patent.

ducedthrough an inlet-pipe 8 controlledby a valve 9, .thesteam entering-the syrup-receptacle through an intake-connection 10' which leads to the upper end of the heating coils 7. The exhaust-steam emerges through a connection 11 at the bottom of the recep-' tacle,'and is discharged through a pipe 12 controlled by a valve 13. As the cooker is used also to cool the syrup after the cooking pipe 14 is provided, which communicates with the coils 7 through a pipe 15 controlled by a valve 16. The cold water flows upwardly in the coil. 7 and is discharged from the upper end of the coil through the Patented July as, 1914. Application filed December 12, 1912. Serial No. 736,444. a

contents of the receptacle. For the purpose i of heating thesyrup steam maybe intro operation is completed, acold-water supplyfrom the upper end of the coil 6 through a waste-pipe 22. g

In cooking the syrup only the lower coil 7 is used, as above described, being'heated by steam at a sufficiently high temperature.

The agitating-mechanism comprises three stirrers, which are mounted on shafts 23, 27

and 28 lying horizontally within the recep tacle 5 a short distance above the bottom thereof. Each of these shafts carries a series of spiders 24, upon which are mounted narrow blades or paddles 25. The paddles I extend nearly, but not quite, from end to end of the receptacle. All of the shafts extend through striding-boxes to the exterior of the receptacle at the front thereof, where they I are provided with sprocket-wheels 29 Con nected by sprocket-chains 30. By these means the shafts are connected to rotate in unison in the same direction, and movement is imparted to them by any suitablepowermechanism, which is shown in Fig. 1 as comprising a clutch 31 and a drive-pulley 32 connected with the middle-shaft 27.

When the stirrers are in rapid rotation they produce a violent agitation throughout the entire mass of syrup within the receptacle. In addition to producing local eddies 'Which traverse the mass of syrup to a large extent, they tend to produce, when rotated in the direction indicated in Fig. 3, a general current or circulation by which the syrup flows upwardly at the right of the the syrup to be drawn in between the paddles at the ends of the stirrers, and to be discharged radially at intermediate points, thus causing a downward flow near the ends of the tank and a corresponding upward flow at intermediate points.

A valuable feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the stirrers occupy very little space in. the syrup-receptacle, and do not substantially interfere with the location of the heating-coils at the most effective position in the receptacle. They also leave the coils free from obstructions above or alongside the coils, so that all parts of the cooker may be conveniently cleaned or repaired when necessary. The location of the stirrers at the lowermost part of the receptacle has the further advantage that they are equally effective whether the receptacle be full, or whether it contains only a small quantity of syrup. In either case the stirrers are entirely submerged, and do not cause any splashing or cooling of the syrup.

1 am aware that syrup-cookers have been previously proposed in which stirrers are located beneath heating-coils, but in all such previous devices, as far as I am informed, the operation of the stirrers has been merely to produce a whirling or rotary movement of the syrup. When the stirrers of this machine are in operation they produce a general agitation which gives the syrup the appearance of ebullition, and owing to this agitation, and to the location of the stirrers immediately below the heating-coil, no particle of the syrup is allowed to remain, for

any substantial length of time, in contact with the heating-coil. For this reason it has been found, in practice, that the syrup may be repeatedly cooked and cooled without burning or change in character, a characteristic which is of great practical utility.

I claim 1. A syrup-cooker having, in combination, a syrup-receptacle; heating-coils located in the lower portion of the receptacle and spaced from the bottom and the sides thereof; a series of stirrers located below the heating-coils and close to the bottom of the receptacle, the stirrers having narrow, longitudinal paddles and being rotatably mounted in substantially parallel positions; and means for rotating the stirrers.

2; A syrup-cooker having, in combination, a syrup-receptacle; heating-coils located in the lower portion of the receptacle and spaced from the bottom and the sides there- 01", a series of stirrers located below the heating-coils and close to the bottom of the receptacle, the stirrers having narrow, longitudinal paddles and being rotatably mounted in substantially-parallel positions; and means for rotating the stirrers all in the same direction.

3. A syrup-cooker having, in combination, a syrup-receptacle; heating-coils located in the receptacle but spaced from the bottom thereof; a plurality of narrow, elongated stirrers located below the heating-coils and rotatable about substantially -horizontal axes; and means for rotating the stirrers.

JOHN lVERNER.

Witnesses i FARNUM F. DORSEY, D. GURNEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

